The Rockwood School District adheres to a Board of Education policy that recognizes and supports acceleration as a key intervention for providing challenging educational opportunities for advanced learners. The following steps are recommended when parents believe that more accelerated offerings should be provided for their child:
- Meet with your child’s classroom teacher to discuss your child’s academic needs and to hear about interventions that might already be taking place in the classroom. Consider having a follow-up meeting to get updated on progress and to share any additional information that would be helpful to the teacher.
- If discussions with your child’s classroom teacher have not resolved the issues of concern to you, make an appointment to talk with the building principal about your concerns.
- If classroom accommodations are not viewed as adequate after repeated efforts to discuss the situation with building staff members, consider completing either a Request for Subject-Matter Acceleration Form or, if relevant, a Request for Whole-Grade Skipping Form. Completion of these forms should not take place before reviewing the information compiled in the Acceleration Resource Packet. If forms are completed, they should be submitted to either the building principal (Subject-Matter Form) or the Gifted Program Director (Whole-Grade Skipping Form).
- District personnel will gather information about your child and consult with you about recommendations.
A brief description of the three packets on acceleration is provided below, along with a link to our website where the packets are located.
Acceleration Resource Packet
The first packet contains background information on giftedness and recommended strategies for teaching gifted learners. It also includes Web resources and district personnel responsible for overseeing acceleration initiatives within the district. It is called the “Acceleration Resource Packet.”
Click here for the Resource Packet
Grade Skipping Packet
The second packet describes a step-by-step procedure for making decisions about whole-grade skipping (double promotion) requests. It is called “Whole-Grade Skipping Information Packet” and is based on recommendations contained in a national publication entitled, “Iowa Acceleration Scale Manual” published by the Connie Belin and Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development (Great Potential Press, Inc.). The process includes a Request Form to be filled out by a teacher or parent and the collection of academic, social and developmental information. The Gifted Program Director will serve in the role of case manager for all requests for double promotion. The Gifted Director will work with building principals and staff, as well as gifted program staff, in determining a response to double promotion requests. The Superintendent or Superintendent designee gives final approval for any grade skipping decisions.
Click here for the Grade Skipping Packet
Click here for the teacher form
Click here for the parent form
Subject Acceleration Packet
The third packet describes a step-by-step procedure for making decisions about subject-matter acceleration. It is called “Subject-Matter Acceleration Information Packet.” This packet, also based on the Iowa Manual, contains a Request Form and a Data Collection and Decision-Making Form. Case management of these requests is handled by building principals and will involve staff from individual buildings as well as district personnel as needed.
Click here for the Subject Acceleration Packet
Click here for the teacher form
Click here for the parent form
Final Comments
The procedures described in these packets are not intended to increase the number of requests for double promotion or to initiate a large number of adjustments to curriculum in most classrooms. Rather, they are for the exceptional situation in which on-going classroom accommodations for students with advanced ability are not sufficiently differentiated to make school a challenging place for individual students to learn. It should be pointed out that all building principals are familiar with the Board’s Acceleration Policy and expect teachers to differentiate instruction in the classroom based on formal and informal assessments. Therefore, the expectation is that teachers are familiar with their students’ strengths and needs and successfully accommodate learning differences on an on-going basis in their classrooms. It is also expected that parents with concerns about academic challenge have worked with both the classroom teacher and building principal before taking the step of completing an Acceleration Request Form.
If you have follow-up questions, you can email or call your building principal, the Director of Staff Development or the Gifted Program Director and we will be happy to discuss individual concerns or questions with you. Also, if after reviewing the packets you have suggestions for future changes, please feel free to let the Gifted Director know. We are always looking for ways to improve our offerings and to serve you and your children in the most thoughtful manner possible.